The Freedom to change Destiny
by Azure-Rouge
Summary: Kira was the pilot of the Freedom, but did he really have it?The Voiture Lumiere...A strange event...the Speed of Light...With all that,he has gained Freedom to change Destiny...But what will he do with this power?Set in post-GSD and in GSEED.
1. Chapter 1

**_Freedom to change Destiny_**

by Azure-Rouge

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"_Man was destined to have freedom and given freedom to change destiny" - Azure.Rouge  
_

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The year was Cosmic Era 75. Deep Space Survey and Development Organization, or DSSD, has been re-established after the events of the Second Bloody Valentine War led to great losses, including the loss of Selene McGriff, the project's top personnel. Even with the recovery of the GSX-401FW Stargazer, it was still impossible for the remnants of DSSD's crew since it was Selene that knew Stargazer the best. Now, almost a year later, the DSSD has been returned to its former glory. This time, in partnership with ORB and Morgenroete, they're re-evaluating the Stargazer's Voiture Lumiere not as an experimental technology but as an additional equipment for exclusive Mobile Suits that may be needed to respond to a faraway threat as quickly as possible. Among the candidates to be fitted with the Voiture Lumiere propulsion system, which was compatible with the propulsion beam, was the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom. With its heavy arsenal, high mobility and nearly indefinite power source, it was the perfect candidate for guarding the route between the Earth and ORB's Mars Research Station, currently under development. Once the Strike Freedom was equipped with the Voiture Lumiere, other than the one that was already part of its designs since the beginning, it could respond to any hostilities on the route within a few minutes to less than an hour. Though the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice was also a good Mobile Suit, its nature as a close-combat unit would limit the amount of enemies it could take out at any given moment. Another unit under test was the ORB-01 Akatsuki. However, its lack of Phase Shift Armor could be fatal in the event of a collision between any space debris or projectile and the Akatsuki traveling at extremely high speeds. This also crossed it out of the list.

Aside from the tests on the Strike Freedom, tests were also being conducted on a warship-scale. However, no power-source was found to be strong enough to develop a propulsion beam capable of sending a warship on its way. Instead, the experimental warship, in this case, the Kusanagi, relied on the solar winds to propel it to higher speeds while constantly firing its thrusters.

With Astrays on guard, another test was to be undertaken by the Strike Freedom. The Kusanagi has sailed ahead to Mars to wait for the Strike Freedom, so it was all up to Kira and his unit.

"Kira, we can get an AI in there! Get out!" Cagalli, Chief Representative of ORB who personally supervises the tests just so Kira would be safe, screamed on the microphone as her _little _brother was preparing for the test.

"Calm down, Cagalli… I've done this numerous times already. All we have to do for now is a maximum velocity travel. After that, they'll take a look at the stresses that I and the Freedom go through. And after that, this experiment's over." Kira smiled reassuringly, but Cagalli was not one to back down.

"Lieutenant General Yamato, I order you to get out of that suit now!" Cagalli shouted again.

"That's a negative, sis. We're under contract, remember?" Kira grinned, preparing the Freedom's systems for launch in a few moments. This silenced Cagalli, with a worried look evident on her face.

"Just be careful, okay?" Cagalli's commanding voice faded and was replaced by a very worried and feminine voice.

"I will. Nothing could go wrong." Kira shrugged his shoulders, in a manner that Neo usually does before he goes out and does something really dangerous or really stupid.

"But…"

"Relax… I'll be back here in a few weeks. Kisaka's on the Kusanagi, isn't he? He'll take care of me."

Cagalli said no more, closing the screen and staring out of the control room's window, where the Freedom was clearly seen, less than a hundred meters away.

"Beginning test sequence." the scientist that replaced Selene McGriff, Valeska Gertrude said.

"Roger that. Activating Voiture Lumiere." Kira flipped a switch and a long spike shot out of each of the wingtips of the Freedom. The wings opened up completely and a light-blue light shot out, forming a light-barrier like that of the Stargazer's. With the DRAGOONs modified, it can now activate its butterfly wings without having to launch the DRAGOON pods.

"Aim the propulsion cannon." Valeska ordered. The cannon's operator aimed at the back of the Freedom and positioned his hand on the trigger.

"Freedom is good to go. All systems are checked." Kira told the control room.

"Copy that. Fire the propulsion beam."

"Charged at 95 percent. Firing." the operator pulled the trigger and a bright yellow beam hit the Freedom's back.

Kira grunted as the Freedom's acceleration reached phenomenal levels. Every form of matter was a blur due to the intense vibrations inside the cockpit. Just before he got out of range, he managed to press the transmit button and talked to the control room.

"In case something happens… Cagalli, I love you." Kira's voice was cut off by the transmission range limitation. Cagalli, on the other hand, blushed her head off and screamed inside the control room.

"IDIOT! THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO GO AROUND SAYING THAT!"

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Kira was well on his way to Mars, having passed the Moon's orbital path a few seconds ago. Though still accelerating, his body was getting used to it and he was able to move freely, with a little bit of strain, but with greater ease. He looked at the speed indicators, and to his surprise, he was already traveling really fast.

"270,000 kilometers per second… Wait. This isn't normal!" Kira's eyes opened in shock.

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Back at the DSSD Station, the CIC reported that something was unusual with that day's test.

"Ma'am, Freedom's currently traveling close to the speed of light. It's something we haven't observed on the Stargazer or on the Freedom's previous tests."

"What?!" Cagalli shot up from her seat and shoved the CIC aside, to see the Freedom on the radar, which in this case, has already disappeared from range.

"What the hell just happened?" Valeska asked. Even with her experience on the Freedom and the Voiture Lumiere, plus the stacked knowledge gained from Stargazer, she wasn't expecting such an event to happen.

"Kira…" Cagalli whispered to himself as she stared at the direction where the Freedom disappeared.

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Inside the cockpit, everything has come to a standstill. The panels stopped flashing. The radar stopped moving. The controls were completely jammed, like they were glued and fastened in place. He looked at the speed indicator and the last digit, which was fluctuating between 8 and 9, stopped during the transition. For some reason, everything was frozen except for him. Was this what truly happened when one approaches the speed of light? Or was it purely a psychological matter that makes him hallucinate all this? He knew not the answer nor did he have the ways to find out. He tried to push the throttle but it was stuck. He wrestled with the controls, but they too were stuck. He tried the throttles again, but it was still stuck. He wrestled the controls again, and surprisingly, it moved this time. However, the sudden forced motion on the controls sent the Freedom on a random whirl around space, while traveling close to the speed of light. He swirled around that area of space, with no clue as to how he was going to stop something moving at extremely high speeds. All the movement was making him sick. Even for the Ultimate Coordinator, this was too much. He was on the verge of blacking out, with blood flowing through his mouth and nose due to the extreme G-Forces. Again, it was a miracle that he was still alive. Somehow, the blackness of unconsciousness was gaining on him. Then and there, he blacked out.

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A few moments later, Kira woke up. His body feeling like it was tossed into a blender with a bucket full of nails, he assessed his condition. His blue-green flight suit was stained with red all-over but he had no wounds. It was then that he realized that blood got sucked out of his pores by the extreme G-forces. His nose and mouth had some amount of blood, but has somehow stopped. His eyes, surprisingly, did not pop due to unusual amounts of blood flowing. Everything that happened to him was something that could not be explained by science. In one word, it was _impossible_. He may be the Ultimate Coordinator, but he was not Mwu La Flaga.

"_Thinking about it over and over won't get me anywhere."_ he thought to himself, _"I should find a place to land"_

He looked around and was shocked to find that he was a lot closer to Earth than he last remembered. As a matter of fact, he remembered seeing Mars from far-away. But now, he was back _within_ the Moon's orbital path. Something was definitely wrong. Nonetheless, he shook the idea aside and struggled to find a place to rest. He flew closer to Earth, hoping that within the debris belt, there would be a place good enough to rest. Finding none, he decided to push himself to the limit and entered Earth's atmosphere. Unlike the last time he entered Earth's atmosphere with the GAT-X105 Strike, this was controlled and a lot smoother, like the time he first fought in the atmosphere using the Strike Freedom. In a few minutes, that seemed to be like forever, he was back in Earth's skies. Below him was a furious battle being fought. But after the Bloody Valentine Wars, battles of this magnitude were non-existent. It wasn't true peace, but there was no major battles, just little skirmishies along borders. He wanted to stop them, but there was no time for that. He had to land somewhere. Using the last bit of ounce he had, he crash-landed into a dense forest on the side of a hill. Just then, he heard a voice speak on the international distress frequency. It sounded familiar, but he was too preoccupied with his survival to guess who it was. However, the message definitely got his attention.

"_ATTENTION ALL ZAFT AND EARTH FORCES. THERE'S A CYCLOPS SYSTEM UNDER THIS BASE AND IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE. GET OUT IMMEDIATELY!"_

The message forced adrenaline through Kira's veins, not because of the danger, but because of the message.

"Those… are the exact same words…" he thought, still in a state of shock. He looked to the right and saw a female, wearing an Earth Forces uniform looking at the chaotic skies. He didn't take the time to recognize who it was. All he knew was it was dangerous and he had to get out. He made the Freedom stand up and grabbed the female, before flying off into the horizon. As he flew away, he looked back on the battlefield. Surely, what he thought was right. On the waters was the Archangel, with its right catapult damaged in the battle.

"_If this is it, then…"_ he looked around a bit more. Then he saw what he was looking for. Flying around the battlefield was the unit he never thought he'd see ever again: the ZGMf-X10A Freedom.

"_It's like deja'vu."_ he thought, catching a glimpse of lady's underwear on the side of the screen. It was then that he realized that he grabbed the EAF soldier upside down. He set the autopilot and opened the canopy. He brought in the girl and put her on his waist. What he saw gave him an even greater shock. So much, that he shrugged off the scolding and insults being hurled at him.

"Why did you take me? Why did you let me dangle outside with my panties showing? You sicko! Pervert!" the girl pounded on his chest, his face unseen because of the glare caused by the displays. Unconsciously, tears were already flowing down his cheeks, and even though he knew people were going to die back at the base, for once, he couldn't care less. He removed his helmet and hugged her. She tried to struggle free, but his strength was too much for him.

"Let me go!" she protested.

"I'm so sorry…" he said. Upon hearing his voice, she stopped resisting. Somehow, she knew it was him. The belief that he died made her shake off the thought. Just as she was going to resist again, he called her by her name, confirming her suspicions. "…Fllay."

He loosened his arms and pulled back to look at her, crying all the while smiling. She looked back at him, shocked like she has seen a ghost, but with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Kira…"

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**A/N:**_I made up that thing about the speed of light, so let it be. This is part one of a two, or three, part fanfic. If I'm lucky, I'll write all the way to chapter 3. If I'm not, I'll stop at 2. Either way, this is my first attempt to make this sort of story, so please review!_


	2. Chapter 2

Joint Supreme Headquarters-Alaska, or JOSH-A, Earth Alliance Base, Alaska. The Strike Freedom, shortly after landing from the doomed base, took off, carrying a passenger that is considered to be very important by its pilot. Picking her up and flying off a mere few seconds before Rau returned to the area right after having a little gunfight with the Hawk of Endymion, Kira has unwittingly changed the past. He took Fllay with him seconds before the moment where Rau was supposed to abduct Fllay. That, in itself, was a major change when it comes to his life. Nonetheless, Kira was unaware of it, and having only one thing in his mind, partially forgot that he was in the past.

"Kira… Kira Yamato?" Fllay asked, her frightened expression turning into a mixture of sorrow, regret, and somehow, relief. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah… Uhh… No… Uhh… Yeah." Kira answered, still unaware of the consequences of his actions. He took a look back at the base and surely enough, he saw a DINN flying off from where he crash-landed. _"What's a ZAFT unit doing on the ground in the middle of a battle?"_

His train of thoughts was suddenly derailed as a sharp and powerful pain ran through his body. This caused him to randomly move the controls, which in turn, caused to Strike Freedom to plummet downwards, almost crashing on the water. Somehow, he was still strong enough to soften the landing, and his Mobile Suit hovered just above the water. It took him a few more seconds before he realized the reason why he suddenly felt a sudden pain. It was because Fllay hugged him tightly all of a sudden, right after he confirmed that he was indeed Kira Yamato. His uniform was covered, but not soaked, in blood. Yet somehow, he never knew how she got over her dislike of anything messy like his bloody uniform, knowing that she was a brat. Still, as much as he loved the idea of being hugged by her, he had to push her back or he won't be able to pilot the Strike Freedom properly. After what he did, Fllay gave him a hurt look, not that of a brat who never got what she wanted, but as someone that cares and gets shoved away. If he could recall properly, this was the second time he has seen that look on her. Not wanting the same thing to happen again, he smiled at her and navigated the Freedom towards a small island just outside of the Cyclops System's range, all the while giving her a reassuring smile.

"Please, Fllay… Let's catch up later, when we're on the ground."

Fllay nodded, still silent, and put her arms around Kira's neck, burying her face on his shoulder and cried. "Sorry, Kira…"

"What for?" Kira asked, half-clueless to the nature of the apology. He wasn't able to think of any reason why she was apologizing. But he knew that she must have done something wrong, and that some time after the first Valentine War, he had forgiven her. Enduring the pain from her hug, he navigated the Freedom to the small island and landed it somewhere near the center, keeping it hidden under the thick canopy. He opened the cockpit and raised the seat, to take in a bit of fresh air, and to get some rest. It was then that he finally got to hold her properly, putting his somewhat bloodied hand on her cheek.

"Fllay, you didn't answer my question." Kira said, weakly smiling.

"It's just that I…" Fllay looked away from Kira, having no face to show him after what she did to him, "I used you… I made you fight for my revenge… for my satisfaction. I used you as a tool, without considering how you felt each time you shot at someone."

Kira's face was initially marked with shock, but after realizing that he had forgiven her with regards to that and that he was aware of it when they were at Morgenroete, his face softened. "I can't understand why you did what you did. I don't even see the logic behind it. Making me kill for your satisfaction."

Fllay had an expression of withdrawal on her face. It's been a while since she last saw Kira, but after seeing him again, all she got was a lecture, and in her perspective, rejection. Once again, she was being bratty, but ever since Kira went MIA, she had a better grasp of things. She held back her bratty side and simply looked down on Kira's uniform.

"But then, if I had people I loved killed in front of me and all I could do was watch them die, I'd aim to get revenge too. I'll be doing it in a different way though." Kira looked up at the sky, through the opening on the forest's canopy which was caused by the Freedom as it landed.

"Kira…" Fllay answered, his name being the only thing she could say. Somehow, it felt better this time when she said his name. She smiled inwardly at the thought. _"That's right… He's part of me… I'll take care of him… This time… I'll show him what he means to me."_

"I see you're still wearing that uniform… You look beautiful in that." Kira complemented. Fllay blushed. Indeed, she has been the center of attention among guys and she was complemented by them whenever they got the chance. However, never had she heard a complement as sincere as Kira's. And to add to her joy, it came from the person she loved.

"You look… mature." Fllay replied, having been unable to think of anything else. Kira froze at Fllay's remark. She had to realize, sooner or later.

"That's because… I'm twenty." Kira sighed. He thought that if she was going to die, he might as well share everything with her. Little did he know that her death which he himself had witnessed was now nearly impossible due to his _untimely_ intervention. "I came from CE 75. I was supposed to do a test with the Freedom's Voiture Lumiere, but a strange event got me back here, in CE71."

Fllay remained silent. She just gave him another tight hug, and with it, tremendous amounts of pain. Kira winced, but tried his best to tolerate, if not ignore, the pain as Fllay buried her face on his neck.

"I'm sure you know I'm no good at sciences and I can't understand how you got here. I don't know anything about the tests you mentioned and I don't even have the slightest clue on what you meant. All I know is that somehow, I've been given the chance to be with you again… to show you how I really felt. Please, Kira… Don't leave me… not again."

Once again, she was crying. Kira, being unable to contain his emotions any longer, held her tightly and silently cried. Somehow, the last line hit him like knives. Not only has he unwittingly messed up time, he also has to make a very difficult decision; Fllay or Lacus?

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**A/N: **_It's official. This would be longer than anticipated. I'm extending the story not because I want readers to be satisfied, but because I think I wouldn't be able to squeeze anything good into a few short chapters. I'm not that good a writer and I rarely write long chapters, so I might as well make it a long and worthwhile story._


	3. Chapter 3

At least an hour has passed ever since he was hit by a hard choice. He took a moment to weigh in the facts and considered his options. If he chose to go back to his time, to Lacus, he'll be where he's supposed to be. However, he'll have to live with the fact that he wasted his chance to change something that he has been wanting to and the fact that because of him, Fllay is dead… again. To make matters worse, he's unsure if the Voiture Lumiere exists, yet. He also doesn't know if he could get back to the time when he disappeared. For all he knew, he may be thrown back to Anno Domini. This gives him his second option: stay in this time and wait for Cosmic Era 75 to come. But his current actions, unknown to him, already have drastic effects on the future. Whatever the case was, he had no choice but to stay. His blood loss has somehow been partially solved. He still had Fllay sitting on his lap, having cried herself to sleep. He smiled at the sight of it. It was a wonder to him how she was able to change this much in just months. Right now, he was having a Fllay that was different from before, a Fllay that he never had a chance to see, but was given a chance to do so. That was enough for him to consider staying, but being left without a choice, he doesn't think it's a bad idea either.

He moved his fingers around. Seems like its functions are still normal. He moved his feet up and down on the inactive pedals of the Freedom. Seems like its functions are normal too. Somehow, his aching body has returned to being a simple body without pain. He heaved a sigh of relief and gently tapped Fllay's cheeks.

"Fllay, wake up." Kira gently said. Fllay rubbed her eyes and squinted, doing her best to focus on the face in front of her. A few seconds later, the face came into focus, and she said something that she's been saying for quite a number of times.

"Kira…"

"Listen, Fllay… We have to get to a place to rest before we do anything else. We can't exactly spend our entire time in this cramped Mobile Suit, now can we?" Kira smiled, a larger one thanks to his recovery.

"But where do you think we should go? People aren't supposed to know you… Maybe the younger you, but not you." Fllay answered, keeping her arms around him, trying to absorb as much warmth from him as possible.

"Well, yeah… That makes sense…" Kira said, pausing for a bit before realizing what he just said, _"Wait a minute… Fllay made sense?!"_

"So, where are we going?" Fllay asked, finally letting go of Kira, but still sitting on his lap. He leaned back and rested her body on his, tilting her head to let her cheek touch with his.

"We can't exactly go to ORB… My sister's still unaware that she's my sister." Kira mumbled.

"You have a sister?!" Fllay jolted up straight on his lap, "But I thought…"

"Yep, I have a sister… You remember Cagalli, right?" Kira grinned, expecting a rather fiery reaction from Fllay.

"Cagalli… Hmmm…" Fllay cupped her chin for a bit, thinking deeply. "Wasn't she the girl who was with you on the Archangel's deck?"

"Exactly." Kira's face turned into that of an amused person. For some reason, he was 'entertained' whenever Cagalli blew her top and ranting to him. Now, he's thinking if Fllay would make him react in the same manner, and how Cagalli would react should she hear what Fllay's saying. As he expected, Fllay was already gritting her teeth and clenched her right hand into a fist.

"T-That… Wasn't she the one who was trying to get close to you?!"

Fllay started to wave her arms around like crazy, ranting all about Cagalli. This earned her an amused sigh from Kira.

"_They're pretty much the same after all…"_ Kira grabbed hold of her hand and hugged her tight, "Calm down, Fllay… She's my sister."

"Her?!" Fllay shouted inside the cockpit, its tight setting having seemed to have magnified her voice. She did, however, calm down after that. "She's your sister? But… how? When did you…?"

"It's hard to explain. But I think we'll have lots of time to do those. For now, we need a place to hide this thing. We're prone to being attacked if we stay in out in the open like this." Kira paused for a while, "And I doubt that anyone would stop after attacking us. This is a prototype Mobile Suit, after all."

"But wouldn't moving put us at greater risk? We're fine as long as they don't see us, right?" Fllay's old self was slowly resurfacing, and just as slowly getting the better of her.

"It's true that they don't see us right now. But we'll have a harder time defending ourselves when we're grounded like this. We need to get to a position where evading and counter-attacking should be no problem. Freedom's not damaged much, so we should be fine."

"If you say so..." Fllay hesitantly put her arms around Kira, "Would you mind if I stay like this while you fly this thing?"

"To be perfectly honest…" Kira smiled at her, "…it's better that way. We might have to go through some extreme maneuvers, so it would be better if you held on to me."

Fllay simply nodded. Kira booted up the Freedom's OS and the Freedom stood up. He spread its wings and took a slight leap off the ground, activating the thrusters as soon as its feet left the ground. Surely, they were nowhere near any friendly territory. Heading southward, they had the risk of running into the Eurasian Fleet on their right, and the Atlantic Federation to their left, specifically those coming as 'reinforcements' from Panama. He couldn't exactly enter ORB as well since it would only mess things up by making his presence known to his sister. He might even be considered a spy for entering ORB's territory using the administrative codes. To be frank, he was running out of ideas with regards to a place to hide himself, Fllay and the Freedom. Though they didn't run into interceptors, he knew in his mind that it was only a matter of time before he has to fight. And as if someone read his mind, alarms started ringing inside the cockpit and Fllay started to panic.

"They're after us, aren't they?" Fllay screamed, squirming all around the cockpit and giving Kira a hard time controlling the Freedom.

"Yes, they are. Now please sit still, Fllay. Trust me on this one." Kira reassured her, before pulling hard on the controls, putting the Freedom in an upward flight to avoid an incoming rain of gunfire from an incoming F-7D Spearhead. He rolled to the left to avoid another burst of shots from an incoming Spearhead. He counted the number of targets around him, and judging by their numbers, there was probably a carrier nearby. He first tried to to fight back, using only his CIWS to give minimal damage to the little fighters. However, as he scored a hit on his first target, it exploded, with the fire catching up to its pilot as he ejected. This gave him a slightly different scenario than the one he was used to. Unlike his other targets, these ones had fuel in them instead of energy batteries and any shot he could think of could kill them. If he shot at the cockpit, he'd kill them. If he shot at the wings, he'd kill them. If he shot at the engines, he'd kill them. He also had limited ammo, so he kept his thoughts on preserving those shots for those anti-ship missiles in case they get launched at him, as the Dominion did.

They continued flying and dodging the rain of bullets and missiles from the Spearheads, and thanks to Phase Shift, they almost had nothing to worry about. Suddenly, a barrage of large missiles were heading their way, coming from the carrier's escort ships.

"Not good." Kira muttered as he fired the CIWS to take care of the missiles. He deployed the railguns and his beam rifles to handle any of the other missiles. Smoke surrounded the Freedom as all the missiles headed for them exploded. However, due to conditions in the Pacific, the smoke stayed stationary around them, hiding them from the enemy and in effect, hiding the enemy from them.

"Now would be a pretty good chance to get away from them." Kira murmured, gripping the controls. He was about to fly the Freedom away, but more missiles made their way through the smoke. To make matters worse, large rounds coming from the ships cannons were being shot at them. He increased altitude to a point where the cannon's rounds would either be too weak or won't reach them altogether.

"Where did they come from?" Fllay gripped tighter on Kira's shoulders, "What do they want from us?"

"We're an unidentified unit. They're probably thinking that this is the Freedom that intervened at the battle in Alaska."

"Freedom?" Fllay asked, "Who's piloting it?"

"I was..." Kira paused, chuckling at the irony that he can't use the past tense, "I am. Both of me. The younger me is currently piloting the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. We'll probably get a chance to see it before I end up destroying it."

Before he could continue, more Spearheads came after them. He put the Strike Freedom into a nosedive and made it fly at less than 50 feet above the sea surface. Much to his distraught, the carriers, EAF's Tarawa-class carriers, already had their Strike Daggers deployed on their decks, each armed and ready for ranged combat.

"This isn't good." Kira narrowed his eyes. The Freedom's targeting computer was activated and the little sphere popped up from the main instrument panel, with little dots that represented the targets. Just as he was about to fire on all the Mobile Suits in sight, a transmission in the International Distress Frequency stopped them all in their tracks.

"_MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS FROM THE DEFENSE FLEET STATIONED AT ALASKA. WE'VE SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE AND WE'VE BEEN DRIFTING AT SEE FOR A FEW HOURS NOW. IF ANYONE HEARS THIS, PLEASE RESPOND!"_

A few of the ships turned away from the battlefield and have began moving Northward, towards  
Alaska. Some of the ships remained, and was about to engage in battle with the Freedom once again, when a single battleship came, followed by a complement of small escort cruisers around it. The sudden arrival of the small fleet and the distress call from the Alaskan vessel called off any attack. All Spearheads returned to their ships, while the Daggers stood down and withdrew into the under-deck hangars. Kira let out a sigh of relief, though he wasn't exactly sure if he should be relieved, considering that theres a new Fleet to worry about. While he was busy worrying about it, a transmission came into one of his open communication lines, with contact coming from the person he least expected.

"_THIS IS SELENE MCGRIFF FROM THE DEEP SPACE SURVEY & DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION. NEED SOME HELP?"_

Kira took a short pause to assess the situation.

"_Interacting with her shouldn't be much of a problem. Strike Freedom's Voiture Lumiere came from the Stargazer, so it should be okay if they happen to see it."_

Not knowing where else to go, he thought in himself that this might just be the hiding place that he needed. Seeing that it had a landing pad that could accommodate one unit, he decided to reply. After all, being with the early DSSD is better than running around cluelessly.

"This is... Umm..." Kira stuttered, trying to come up with a name other than his own, "Uhh... Hibiki. We're requesting permission to land."

"_HIBIKI...WHAT? WHAT'S YOUR SURNAME?"_

"Hibiki... That's my name. Just that. I don't have a surname."

- - - - - - - - - - -

_**A/N: **__I know it's pretty hazardous for Kira to be at DSSD, but I suppose it's the only side that would have him for now. I'm not sure where on Earth (or space) the Junk Guild is, so I don't think it would do me any good to use them. Considering the time, Voiture Lumiere should still be in its theoretical stages, so I think I'd have Kira help a bit in developing that technology. This is it for now, and maybe I'll end this by the next chapter... and yes, Fllay knows that this Kira is older._


	4. Chapter 4

_RECAP_

"_This is... Umm..." Kira stuttered, trying to come up with a name other than his own, "Uhh... Hibiki. We're requesting permission to land."_

"_HIBIKI...WHAT? WHAT'S YOUR SURNAME?"_

"_Hibiki... That's my name. Just that. I don't have a surname."_

_END OF RECAP_

"_WE WON'T GIVE YOU CLEARANCE UNTIL WE HAVE CERTIFIED YOUR IDENTITY. IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR, AND SEEING YOUR MOBILE SUIT, IT'S CLEAR THAT YOU'RE NOT HERE FOR A PURE SCIENTIFIC VENTURE."_

Kira winced upon hearing all that. However, it was reasonable for such vessels to refuse aid to Mobile Suits. However, he refused to give up because of the fears of others. If they won't allow him on board, he hoped that they would at least take _her._

"L-Listen... Forget about me. I have a passenger that must get to safety. Please, I beg you, take her away from here." Kira replied on the radio. The airwaves turned silent for a few moments before a reply came back from the ship.

"_AND WHO IS THIS PERSON THAT YOU SPEAK OF?"_

"It's Fllay... Fllay Alster." he replied in an evidently melancholic voice.

"_ALSTER? DAUGHTER OF THE LATE VICE FOREIGN MINISTER ALSTER?"_

"Exactly."

"_ALRIGHT. YOU HAVE CLEARANCE TO LAND. WE'LL ONLY GIVE YOU 10 MINUTES TO GET HER ABOARD. YOU'LL HAVE TO LEAVE AFTER THAT."_

"Understood." Kira closed the line then looked at Fllay. "You'll have to get on that ship for now."

"B-but Kira...! I don't want to get separated from you again!" Fllay's eyes were starting to get filled with tears, her grip on Kira's suit getting tighter, desperately tighter.

"Listen, I don't belong in this world. Sooner or later, I'll have to get back to my own time. If you want to see me again, live through all of this. Find the Kira of this time and stay with him." Kira sadly smiled. He gently brought the Freedom down on the ship's landing pad and made it kneel on the platform. On the screen, he saw armed personnel surround them, each carrying high-caliber weapons and some even carrying anti-tank rifles. The ship's CIWS were also pointed at the Freedom's body. As a matter of fact, some even came mounting shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, all aimed at them. Kira opened the cockpit, raised the seat to reach the opening and looked at Fllay.

"Get off, Fllay." Kira's usually gentle voice became stoic.

"No! I won't!" she stubbornly replied, putting her arms around Kira as tight as she could. While it hurt him to do so, he decided to use strength and pushed her away. With Kira's strength, Fllay was pushed all the way to the landing pad where she landed with a loud thud. She looked at Kira with a hurt expression. She struggled to get up, but the pain from her landing was preventing her from doing so. However, her struggle was brought to a halt as soon as she saw Kira's face. He looked at her with determination that she has never seen on him before, with eyes fiercely staring down on her, making her feel like she wasn't wanted by him anymore. However, she also saw something that were telling her that his face was nothing more than a mask, for on his cheeks was a steady flow of cheeks.

"Find the younger me, Fllay. I don't want to lose you again, so please just do as I ask." Kira finally lowered his seat into the cockpit and closed the hatch above him. As the Freedom slowly stood up, Fllay tried to stand up and when she got on her feet, she fell to her knees again. For once, she didn't mind being in pain. She ignored every single part of her body that was aching just so she could stand up and go to him. Finally getting on her feet and being able to stay up, she took a small step and reached out for the Freedom, which opened its wing and started flying backwards. She took another small step as the distance between them was growing larger and larger, but she fell face first into the pad. As the sound of the Freedom eventually died out, she stayed flat on her stomach and cried. No one dared to approach her since her identity was still unconfirmed. However, a certain woman in a lab coat approached her and sat in front of her.

"Are you Miss Fllay Alster?"

Fllay didn't answer. She stayed down and remained silent. Though tears were still rolling down her cheeks, she has almost stopped crying.

"I'm Selene McGriff of the DSSD. Let's go in for now and we'll talk there."

"No, I'm staying here." Fllay mumbled as she kept her face buried in her arms. Selene, on the other hand, stood up and raised her eyebrow at the somewhat pitiful sight.

"Listen, Ms. Alster, you can mope up here all you want, but that's not going to change anything. If ever something new were to happen, it'd be you dying or ending up missing. You could easily fall overboard, hit by fragments should we enter a battlefield, or one of the other numerous stuff that could happen to you on the landing pad. Of course, that doesn't include being minced by rotor blades or squished by landing aircraft." Selene sarcastically said, "In any event, staying here would probably get you killed, and I guess that would stop you from doing whatever that pilot asked you to do."

Upon hearing that, Fllay struggled to her feet and swayed a bit as she stood.

"I can't believe you heard all that." she frowned, followed by a wince upon experiencing how painful the results of the fall really were.

"Coordinators have heightened senses." Selene shrugged her shoulder and assisted Fllay on her feet. "I guess you took that dying on the pad seriously."

"You're exaggerating." Fllay quickly replied, this time, leaning on Selene for more support. They slowly walked into the ship as the security personnel stood down and returned to their position. Fllay's mind, however, was most definitely somewhere else. _"Kira..."_

Kira, on the other hand, was flying dangerously close to the water's surface and at speeds that are pretty low. However, he took this moment to carefully organize his thoughts.

"_Going to ORB now isn't exactly advisable. It has a military that's pretty large compared to its territory. ZAFT bases are impossible, and so are Alliance territories. In any case, I need to stay around the Pacific. I'll have to tag along once the Archangel and Kusanagi are launched into space. I can't stay on Earth any longer. If I plan on returning to my original time, being in space would be the only way for me to have the slightest chance of recreating that. I just don't know where I'll get that kind of propulsion system."_

Having decided on his next course of action, he throttled up and increased speed. As mist and water vapor trailing the Freedom's wake, Kira continued his train of thoughts, but this time, with a completely different topic.

"_I've made it so that she won't have to go to ZAFT, and with that she won't end up being on the Dominion. In that case, there's no way she'll be shot by that guy. The Alliance won't be able to use nuclear missiles, and there will definitely be changes on how and when GENESIS will be used. I guess I'll really have to go to space."_

Having a quick change of mind, he quickly turned the Freedom around and headed for ORB, keeping the Freedom as close to the water as possible.

- - - - - - - - - - -

_A/N: Okay, so Kira's finally using his head for a change. I have nothing else to say but hopefully, next chapter will clear things up, including DSSD's decision to take Fllay. All I know is that this story is turning out to be longer than expected._


	5. Chapter 5

On board the DSSD's ship, Fllay was given a change of clothes by Selene after she was brought into the latter's quarters. As she was changing into a pink long-sleeved blouse and black pencil cut skirt, Selene started gathering information from Fllay.

"So you're the daughter of George Allster. Aren't you part of the Alliance now? Why did you end up all the way here?"

"I-I was at Alaska. I was about to be assigned somewhere else, but because of circumstances, I ended up wandering around the base... A-and then, he... He found me." Fllay stopped for a while, her silhouette on the frosted glass panel informing Selene that it was not only Fllay's speech that stopped, but her movement as well. Seeing this, she deduced that this person her guest was talking about held great significance in her life, regardless of it being good or bad.

"So, who is this _"he"_ that you're talking about? Is he that Hibiki guy?" Selene waited for an answer, but Fllay remained motionless and speechless. A few seconds later, she asked again, and this time, with greater intensity. "Who's _"he"_? Is he that Hibiki guy?"

"Y-yes..." Fllay quickly replied.

"Have you known him for long? What is he to you?"

"Wait. Isn't this getting a bit too personal?" the protest came flying to Selene without a second thought. However, the more composed woman just smiled and looked at Fllay as she came out after she hurriedly changed her clothes. Selene looked at the clothes and, as she expected, it was all twisted and unevenly buttoned. Without saying a word, she approached the red head and unbuttoned her blouse.

"W-Wait! What are you doing?!" Fllay's protest came as no surprise. Selene simply smiled at her to give a reassurance that she won't do anything _unnecessary._ However, the protests just won't stop coming. "I can do it myself!"

"When you're in that state, you won't be able to do anything properly."

"I can do things myself!"

"Come on! Don't be shy!" Selene smirked, a rarely seen act from someone who's always so busy with research. However, as Fllay continued to resist, Selene stopped and smiled. "There, the buttons are properly done now. It's fixed!"

"T-thanks." Fllay was at a loss for words, especially after realizing that she _slightly _overreacted.

"You're welcome." Selene turned her back and was about to leave, but she paused for a bit and looked from Fllay from afar. "You look really cute. You'll have to work on your reaction though. You can't exactly be like that when you get intimate with the one you want to spend your life with."

However, she didn't get what she expected. Instead of feeling embarrassed, or anything similar for that matter, Fllay had a face full of regret and guilt. Selene thought that it would be better if she didn't ask about it and leave Fllay alone for now. The younger lady, on the other hand, just plopped on the nearest chair she could find and curled up into a ball, staring at the floor for no apparent reason.

- - - - - - - - - - -

After some time, Kira submerged the Freedom when he was getting close to ORB's territorial waters. He turned off a majority of his avionics, including the radar and transponder. He kept heading towards ORB, hoping that he won't encounter any of its military's ships along the way. Nonetheless, he pushed onwards, with the knowledge that even if they detected him, they won't be able to attack him with anything more than torpedoes, depth charges and SCUBA divers. He finally reached ORB's mainland, and it came as no surprise that most of the ships were docked.

"_If I remember correctly, this is around the time when the Alliance attacks ORB. The Archangel should be here by now." _Kira kept a low profile as he approached one of the volcanoes on the south of the main island. He was aware that his mere presence would sound the alarm at any moment. He raised the Freedom's head above water and scanned the area. Ahead of him was ORB's mainland, and on its shores, tanks were moving in to their positions. Seems like the battle is coming in faster than he remembered. He checked around for a suitable place to stay, and found one after half an hour. He navigated the Freedom towards it and, upon arrival, he noticed that it was not only a hole but it was actually a cave that runs deeper into the mainland. Luckily for him the mouth of the cave, though partially underwater, was large enough to hold the Freedom. Shortly after shutting down the Freedom, a cruiser belonging to ORB passed very slowly, as if checking on something. He knew that he had been detected, but thanks to him turning off parts of the Freedom's systems, it was classified as an unidentified object. _"This ship was probably sent here to investigate."_

With the cockpit's hatch a meter above the water, he got out of the cockpit without fear of getting the controls and everything else waterlogged. Without any distractions, he can now think clearly and plan his actions. He then brought out a change of clothes, which was just a set of casual clothes he puts on when he wasn't testing the Voiture Lumiere. It was after changing that he discovered a flaw in his hiding spot: he couldn't get out without getting wet. With no other choice, he jumped into the water and started swimming towards the beach, and since he was on a rocky side of the island, the beach was quite far from where he was. He looked back for a while, and much to his dismay, the cruiser even deployed a couple of Helis to search around the area.

- - - - - - - - - - -

About an hour later, Selene returned to her quarters to take a bath. However, as soon as she entered, Fllay looked at her with rather sorrowful eyes, as if she had just been crying. She grabbed a chair and sat next to Fllay, where she handed the red head a bottle of water.

"Have something to drink." she smiled at Fllay. The latter simply nodded and took the bottle. She took a few gulps of water and returned to moping. "So, why were you crying?"

"There are things I wish I did, and those that I wish I didn't do... Most importantly, I want to do things with him and talk to him... Properly, this time."

"You'll get that chance." Selene reassured her. Fllay simply nodded and Selene smiled. Somehow, she got this girl to spill. However, she still has no clue why she was like that, what it is that's giving her that feeling of guilt and regret. Even so, she decided that it would be best if Fllay told her on her own. "If you want anyone to talk to, feel free to come to me. It's advisable for you to let out those negativities in you. It could lead to health problems later on."

Once again, Fllay just nodded.

"Listen... In a few days, we'll be docking at ORB. We'll stay there for about a month. We'll need to resupply, make a few arrangements for the future and acquire new equipment. With any luck, we'll have sufficient funding to purchase our own vessel instead of just going on charters. Of course, it's a good time for vacation for the crew too."

"Vacation? In... the middle of a... war?"

"Well, it's rare for us to get a break. So far, the war hasn't reached ORB yet, though it most likely will in a matter of days. We've received word that ORB's being invited to join the Earth Alliance, so it would only be a matter of time before they become a member of the Alliance. I hear these _invitations_ are hard to turn down."

"It's still pretty strange..."

"I know, but we have a lot of things to do when we get to ORB. It would take a lot of time. While waiting, wouldn't it be better if we just use that time to relax rather than just wait around?"

"I still think it's strange." Fllay said as she kept her eyes away from Selene, who just sighed.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Kira, whose clothes have partially dried, walked around the island and wandered into one of the cities of ORB. He started off by sitting on one of the sidewalks and watching the news on the large screens scattered all over the city.

"_A MILITARY OFFENSIVE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED BY ZAFT AGAINST THE ALLIANCE FORCES IN PANAMA. AS OF THIS MOMENT, THE BATTLE IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF STOPPING. HOWEVER, THE ZAFT FORCES SEEM TO BE GETTING THE UPPER HAND."_

"_It looks like the Alliance would be heading for ORB soon. Once Panama falls, they'll be trying to take Kaguya." _Kira stood up and walked off, not waiting for the news segment to finish. His first order of business was getting money for supplies. Of course, he didn't plan on stealing it. But then again, stealing would be his only option. He logged on to one of the computers spread throughout ORB. He connected into the Alliance's financial network and began transferring money to a temporary account that he made a few minutes ago.

On Morgenroete's dry dock, another person was accessing his account on the network in hopes of buying a few personal necessities before things turn bad.

"My money's all gone. It seems like the Alliance froze our accounts and drained them all." a young soldier sighed.

"I don't think so. Mir was able to get some money earlier." an orange haired soldier around his age said.

"That's not any comfort." he replied, pulling out his card from the computer's slot and putting it in his pocket.

"Well, you won't really have to worry about not having money. We have the the basics here on the ship already. Your parents are here too, right? Why not ask them?"

"I don't really feel like talking to them right now."

"Well, why not ask the princess? You two are close, right?"

"Oh please... We've already caused lot of trouble for them. I don't want to add any more problems."

"Oh come on, Kira. She's your friend, right? She won't think it would be any trouble at all."

At the same time, another brown haired pilot was looking at his own card and slipped it into his pocket. _"I didn't exactly steal it. It's my money... in a way. I'll have to forgive myself for that."_

- - - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:**_ That's it for now. Kira got some cash by stealing from his younger self, which technically isn't stealing. They're all at ORB before the big invasion and Fllay's being thrown back into danger. I'm still thinking if Freedom and Strike Freedom should meet each other in the upcoming battle, but that depends on how things turn out. Even if they do meet, it would be unintentional._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **First and foremost, I apologize for the really long delay.. I've run out of ideas about how I can continue the story. However, I took time to watch the anime Noein and found a new approach to write this. Anyway, here goes nothing.

- - - - - -

It has been days since the Earth Alliance was attacked in Panama and ZAFT conquered their facility. In a desperate need for a mass driver, they turned their attention to ORB's. As a humanitarian gesture, or simply just a farce by Muruta Azrael, the Earth Alliance sent a message to ORB in a rather desperate attempt to take over ORB's mass driver, with an ultimatum stating that it either joins the Alliance against humanity's enemy or be treated as ZAFT's ally. As expected of ORB's leaders, they strongly refused. This infuriated Azrael, who knew something like this would happen and brought along an entire Alliance Fleet. However, the deadline was yet to come, and ORB took this chance to evacuate the citizens.

"_IN RESPONSE TO AN IMPENDING ATTACK OF THE EARTH ALLIANCE FORCES ON THE UNITED EMIRATES OF ORB, THE GOVERNMENT IS ISSUING A MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER. NAVAL AND CIVILIAN TRANSPORT SHIPS ARE ON STANDBY ON THE DOCKS TO CARRY REFUGEES. THIS EVACUATION IS MANDATORY."_

The same message echoed throughout the Onogoro, like some sort of general alarm going off. While not as chaotic as some might imagine, all of ORB's inhabitants are in a state of panic. Long lines are forming in shops, commodities going out of stock, and ships leaving and entering port like there's no tomorrow. In light of the possible attack, this was the best case scenario: an orderly panic.

"We'll have to return to the ship quickly. It's going to leave in a few minutes." Selene said as she looked at her watch, "15 minutes to be exact."

Fllay just nodded. They ran from street to street until they came upon a white sports car. After quickly opening the doors and tossing the stuff they bought into the trunk, they got in and fastened their seatbelts. Somehow, Fllay had a bad feeling about it.

"You're not planning to-" but before she could finish, Fllay was cut off by the sudden acceleration of Selene's car. Struggling to find something to hold on to, she just grabbed the sides of her seat and held on tightly. They swerved around corners, leaving tire-marks on the turns, and sped through the rather empty streets.

"We're lucky enough no one else is using the road." changing gears, she turned her attention to her watch, "10 minutes to go."

"S-slow down! There are still people around!" Fllay screeched, scared by the speed they were going.

"Those people aren't on the street. They're loading their vehicles and getting ready to leave. The mandatory evacuation order just came out and they're still busy packing up." with confidence, she cleared the final corner and reached the seaside road. "8 minutes to go. Looks like we'll make it."

As they entered the curve and arrived at the gates of the port, Selene brought the car to an early but smooth stop.

"What's happening?" the astounded ladies stepped off the car and slowly walked towards the gates. All gates were closed and a large mob of people have gathered outside. As they moved closer, the Selene's phone rang.

"Hello?" Selene said, and then she fell silent as the person on the other side of the line spoke. This kept on for a few minutes before finally breaking her silence by screaming on the phone. "WHAT?"

Fllay, flabbergasted by the sudden outburst, decided against asking what it was. However, she needed not do so, for Selene was about to tell her anyway.

"This is so unbelievable." the young researcher did a personal version of the facepalm. "ORB's requesting all docked vessels to carry refugees. Those that refuse will have to set sail immediately, before the people on the docks force their way on board."

"I'm guessing our ship is one of those, right?"

"Exactly." Selene, out of frustration, bit her nails. "The ship's owners refused to let refugees aboard, thus the gates were closed temporarily to allow the ship to without incident. However, some of the ship's crew aren't on board yet. They were probably out when the mandatory evacuation order was given. In a way, we're on the same boat."

"So what do we do now?"

"I think I have an idea."

- - - - - - -

Somewhere else in Onogoro, members of the military are busy helping the citizens with the mandatory evacuation. Those that just finished buying from shops are being urged to leave immediately. While those that are at home or on the streets are being helped off. Helping in the effort is the princess, Cagalli Yula Attha, and her bodyguard, Ledonir Kisaka.

"What are you people still doing here? Get out of here!" Cagalli screamed as she not-so-gently got some people on their feet and gave them a slight nudge in the same direction as the other evacuees. "This place will be a battlefield soon! If you don't get out of here, you'll be caught up in it!"

After a while of rather rough persuasion methods, Cagalli seemed to have succeeded in getting people out of the area. As her bodyguard and his men were spreading out to look for anybody left behind in the area, or anybody that needed their help, the maverick princess went off on her own to do the same. It was this decision that led her to an isolated alleyway where she saw someone walking off in the direction opposite to the evacuation.

"Stop!" she yelled out, but the person did not respond.

"I said stop! You're going the wrong way!" she yelled again, but the person kept walking.

Feeling frustrated by this person who was either deaf or deaf, she ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "Where do you think you're going? The evacuation's that-!"

Before she could finish, a pair of round purple eyes locked with her gold ones. She withdrew her hand and let out a weak gasp. Standing before her was a taller, older Kira Yamato.

"K-Kira?"

Kira, on the other hand, was speechless. _"How do I get out of this? It's not like pretending that I'm someone else will work against her."_

Doing his best not to budge, he gave her a strange look in hopes that she'd think she got the wrong person. However, the longer it went on, the harder it was for him to fake it. Luckily for him, someone arrived to get Cagalli's attention.

"Please come with us immediately. The Chief Representative wants to see you!" a soldier yelled from the end of the alley.

"Alright! I'm coming!" she yelled back. When she turned her head back towards Kira, he was long gone. _"Where'd he go?"_

She looked around for a few more seconds, but was interrupted when Kisaka finally arrived. "We've been looking everywhere for you. It's a good thing one of the soldiers found you quickly."

"Yes, yes, I know! Geez... You're always so grumpy!" she complained and looked at the opposite direction, putting on a pout. However, her face softened when she recalled the face of the man she saw in the alley. _"That was definitely him. I feel that it's him, I know that it's him, but my mind says it's not supposed to be him."_

Kira, on the other hand, was panting at the other end of the alley. It wasn't that far from where he left Cagalli, but it took all that he had to run faster than he normally could. And being the Ultimate Coordinator, it was enough to make him _vanish_ from Cagalli's perspective. "That was close."

After regaining his breath, he picked up the things he bought and walked off.

- - - - - - -

Hours have passed, and it's the morning of the next day. The ultimatum is just around the corner and the people haven't fully evacuated yet. The DSSD's chartered ship is still docked due to the lack of personnel on board and the people on the gates have lessened dramatically. Selene moved the car closer to the gate and parked there, waiting for it to open. "It's just a matter of time, I guess. If it wasn't for the request to carry refugees, we'd have been gone since yesterday."

Fllay, paying attention to something else, looked into the horizon and saw something heading straight for them. "What's that?"

Selene followed the direction of Fllay's finger and saw what she was pointing at; an Alliance Fleet moving in. "We have to get out of here!"

"But aren't we going to get on the ship first?" Fllay asked. Selene, on the other hand, turned the car around and drove off as fast as she could.

"Where did you get that idea?" a rougish grin appeared on Selene's face. She turned the car around again, this time, gaining momentum and crashing through the gates. In the process, she almost ran over some of the guards and the people, but with no one hurt, she didn't mind at all. Fllay, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

"What was wrong with you? You could've hurt those people!" the young redhead yelled at the top of her voice.

"Believe me, kid. There will be times when you have to hurt people, even kill them, for your own sake. I personally haven't done so yet, and I'm thankful that even with what I did, I still haven't hurt anyone for my sake. Even if it's for survival, I'd hate to step on others just for me to live on."

The last few words hit Fllay like cannonballs from a medieval battle. It was true that stepping on others was harsh, and Selene's choice of words might have been too much, but in Fllay's opinion, those were nothing compared to what she did to Kira. She made him kill others because of her selfishness and used him as an instrument of revenge. She hurt him when she made an open declaration of hatred towards coordinators in his presence. She did a lot of things she wasn't proud of. She even jumped back to Sai after Kira and Tolle were declared MIA. She hurt him when they were together; she hurt him when they were apart. While she was on the Archangel, nothing else seemed to matter to her. However, once she got the chance to finally think things through, she began to see everything from a fresh perspective. She began to hate herself for being so selfish, for being so arrogant, for being so bratty. She began to feel not only regret and sorrow, but surprisingly, emotions that Kira felt. She could feel his anguish when the Duel shot the shuttle, his desire to protect the Archangel, his fear when he had to come against 4 different prototypes. In a matter of seconds, she learned something she never expected: empathy. Without uttering a word, she curled up in her seat and began crying. Selene, on the other hand, pretended not to see what was happening, hoping that in time, she'd open up to her. This also gave her a chance to focus on getting to the ship.

"We're almost there. Be prepared to get off, then run to the ship as fast as you can."

Fllay didn't utter a sound. She just kept her face buried between her knees and nodded.

"Now's not the time for that! Let's get to the ship!" Selene brought the car to a screeching halt and quickly unbuckled her seatbelt. Without a chance to reply, Fllay struggled to release the buckle. Already halfway to the ship, the green-haired researcher turned around to help Fllay, only to be interrupted by an ominous sound that was getting louder and louder. Both of them froze and looked at where the sound was coming from. Much to their grim surprise, there was a Mobile Suit heading towards them, in a shape so bad it might explode any minute. To the both of them, death is coming in the form of a blazing Mobile Suit.

- - - - - - -

**A/N: **I'll leave it at that for now. I'm still thinking if I should get someone _Yuna-ed _(ie. killed by a crashing Mobile Suit), though it definitely can't be Selene. She lives in Stargazer, so she can't die here. Any possible changes in the future because of the older Kira's actions in the past will be shown in the next chapter. But for now, it's a cliffhanger.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Well, it's an easy update for me. I was bored and I had nothing to do, so I got brainstorming and thought of how this would turn out. And here's what my mind put together. It's nothing much, but it should help the story go along.

- - - - - - -

A Mobile Suit was heading straight for them, fast. Neither of them felt the need to know what Mobile Suit it was, all they thought was that death was coming and dodging it was near impossible. Getting a near-death burst of luck, Fllay accidentally hit the release button for the seatbelt. She took this opportunity to jump out the car and run away from there as quickly as possible. However, she wasn't able to run enough to get away from the point of impact. Neither she nor Selene was able to get away from it, and it looked like they really were done for. Fllay just braced herself and hoped that it will be over soon, until a streak of blue, white, red and black flew above her. There was nothing good to be seen in a battle, but for her, it was a very welcome sight.

"The Strike!" Fllay exclaimed, relief and happiness clearly evident on her face and in her voice.

Selene, on the other hand, was at a loss. She heard news on how the Strike was a monster in the battlefield, but it was destroyed by the Aegis in a battle near ORB. And now, right before her eyes was the infamous Strike, in combat once again. Standing between them and the falling Mobile Suit, the Aile Strike brought forth its shield and cushioned the impact of the falling unit, which in this case was a Strike Dagger. Lifting the shield up, the Strike threw the Strike Dagger in the opposite direction, making sure that the people behind it weren't going to be hurt by the explosion. The Strike Dagger, on the other hand, exploded just moments from hitting the ground.

"Kira!" Fllay yelled immediately after the explosion. She ran towards the Strike, excited to see the person she wanted to see. However, a voice coming from it gave her an intense disappointment.

"_SO, YOU WEREN'T HURT, WERE YOU? I'M SORRY ABOUT THAT. I SHOT THAT THING DOWN AND I DIDN'T THINK IT'D END UP DOWN HERE."_ a familiar voice said through the Strike's loudspeaker.

"_That's not Kira..."_ with great disappointment, Fllay called out to the pilot. "Commander?"

"_OH! IT'S YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"_ the voice on the loudspeaker boomed. Typical for the Hawk of Endymion, worrying about other things aside from the battle at hand. _"COME WITH ME. I'LL TAKE YOU THERE."_

Without even waiting for a response, the Strike grabbed Fllay and took off, leaving Selene at a loss of words.

"What the-?" these were all the words that Selene could say. As she watched the Strike fly off, while barely dodging a rain of beam fire, she couldn't help but wonder why Fllay seemed so familiar with the Strike, or why she was wearing the Earth Forces uniform when they first met. _"Could it be that she was part of the Archangel's crew?"_

Helplessly, she stared as the Strike vanished. Caught in deep thought, she was abruptly snapped out of it by the sound of their ship's horn.

"_ALL PASSENGERS AND CREW OF THE DSSD SHIP, PLEASE GET ON BOARD NOW. WE ARE CURRENTLY PERFORMING FINAL CHECKS AND WILL BE SETTING SAIL SHORTLY. ANYONE LEFT ON DOCK WILL BE ABANDONED."_

"What the hell are these people thinking?" Selene shook her head in frustration. First, a Mobile Suit comes and brings a girl to the ship, a neutral nation gets into battle, they have a very close contact with death, another Mobile Suit takes the said girl away, and now the ship is leaving in a few minutes. It's either everything happens so fast or they're just so random, she can't keep up with them. While she was still busy thinking, the ship was already beginning to move backwards, out of the docks. For a moment, she hesitated if she should somewhat exert an effort to follow Fllay and abandon her only sure way to leave ORB, or to trust her instinct and trust that Mobile Suit.

"If anyone wants to leave, get on the ship now!" someone from the deck shouted. As the other ships prepared to set off, the people on the docks started chasing after them in a desperate attempt to get out of the battlefield. Selene, on the other hand, was still torn. She took one small step forward, towards her car, to drive off and look for Fllay. But with great hesitation, she turned around and jumped on to their ship. _"I just hope I don't regret this later on."_

- - - - - - -

The Strike flew through beam fire and missiles, debris and carnage. With the pilot of the Strike an almost complete Mobile Suit newbie, he had to gather everything he had just to dodge the attacks and leaving almost no room for Fllay to be brought into the cockpit.

"_I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THIS, BUT I'M NOT REALLY THAT GOOD YET. HANG ON TIGHT WHILE WE GET TO THE SHIP." _Mwu's voice boomed from the loudspeaker. It was not that loud, but loud enough to be heard over the explosions and the thrusters.

"The ship? You mean the Archangel?"Fllay's enthusiasm seemed to have gotten rid of her disappointment... at least partially.

"_WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT? OF COURSE IT'S THE ARCHANGEL!"_

"A-and Kira?" she asked.

"_IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR HIM, YOU MIGHT AS WELL WAIT FOR HIM ON THE SHIP. WE ALL HAVE OUR HANDS FULL RIGHT NOW."_

The Strike flew around more and more. Though it would've been faster just for him to fly straight to the Archangel, he was troubled about having a passenger, and thus avoided enemy units as much as possible. This caused them to take a longer trip, made even longer by all the dodging that Mwu made.

"C-Commander..." Fllay weakly said, "I... I think I'm gonna be sick."

"_WHAT?! THAT'S A PRETTY CONVENIENT PLACE TO THROW UP!" _Mwu's disbelief was clear in his voice. While all his actions could definitely throw people into a bad case of motion sickness, he didn't think that she needed to tell him that she's about to throw up.

Luckily for the both of them, the Strike took a slight stop near the deck; the same one where she first had her jealousy fit over the Princess of ORB. Carefully placing her, the Strike left her one final message before heading out again.

"_GET IN QUICKLY. THE LOCKS ARE TEMPORARILY DISABLED BY THE BRIDGE. I TOLD THEM I HAD A PASSENGER WITH ME. GIVE THE CAPTAIN A CALL ONCE YOU GET INSIDE. THEY'LL LOCK UP AS SOON AS YOU DO SO."_

Fllay could only nod, weakly and wobbly, but with a smile. As the ship also moved around to dodge incoming fire and attack the enemy fleet, she hurried her way in. As the electronic door shut behind her, she immediately grabbed the nearest intercom unit she could find. Being one of the direct lines to the bridge, the need to press anything was eliminated. She noticed this from the lack of buttons on it, so she just waited for the Captain's voice.

"_THIS IS THE BRIDGE."_

It wasn't the Captain. Probably busy commandeering the ship. However, the voice did seem familiar.

"Mir? Miriallia? Is that you? I'm in the ship." Fllay's joy of returning to the Archangel was getting the better of her, to the extent that she disregarded the ship's battle status.

"_I SEE. THAT'S GOOD." _Miriallia paused briefly, _"I'VE INFORMED THE CAPTAIN AND ALL THE LOCKS HAVE BEEN RESTORED. WE'LL CHAT AFTER THIS BATTLE IS OVER."_

- - - - - - -

**A/N: **I can't say I accomplished much for this chapter. I was, however, pretty successful at giving Fllay the happy-disappointed feeling, and I'm thinking if I should keep it up for a chapter or two. Well, it may simply me being a little sinister. Future Kira makes no appearance for now. Wasn't needed. And I'll explain his absence in later chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

The battle was over. Explosions stopped, gunfire ceased, and the ship's movements have been calmer than ever. She felt the ship descend, followed by an abrupt but gentle deceleration. The ship had landed in the water and gradually came to a stop. Based on her experience, the ship should be busy right now. But somehow, there was little noise outside.

In the heat of battle a few moments earlier, she found her way into an empty room. As far as her memory could tell, this was her room before she was _reassigned_ and ordered to leave the Archangel back at Alaska. She didn't think that it would be kept vacant for that long.

"_Why did it suddenly become so silent?"_

She peeked out the door and so no one. The little noise that she heard earlier was now gone. An eerie silent just took its place. She slowly made her way out of the room. Turning around the corner, she reached one of the few windows along the ship's body. She looked out the thick glass, past her reflection, and into the outside. It was the beach. But this one in particular wasn't as joyful as the majority's idea of a beach. There were dead bodies, wrecked Mobile Suits, remains of fighters. Traces of the last battle were evident on the beach. Appalled by what she saw through a small window, she stepped back and stared in fear at the death and destruction that was before her. Fllay wanted to run away and hide in her room once again, back in her comfort zone. She turned and began to walk back, but halfway there, she stopped. Did she really want to do that? Was seeing through a small window enough for her to give up and return to comfort? Or would she rather see the bigger picture? With great hesitation, but a greater desire to change for the better, she gathered all her strength to overcome her fear and marched towards the exit.

- - - - - - -

She reached the door at the bottom of one of the ship's _legs_, jumping off and awkwardly fell face-first into the sand. She sat and reviewed the distance she fell. It was no more than a meter in height, but somehow, it felt like she fell from about twice the height. As the waves rolled in, her skirt and stockings became wet, her shoes partially filled with sand. She winced at the feeling once she stood up. It wasn't exactly disgusting, but to have squishy sand in her shoes made her very uncomfortable. Even so, she took her first step forward and did her best to endure this highly unnatural feeling.

- - - - - - -

Cagalli walked around the field to survey the damage left by the battle. The city has almost been completely flattened by the fight, and though they managed to push back the Alliance. One way or another, it was their victory. ORB's forces, however, weren't without losses. They suffered a large number of casualties, civilian and military alike. The once beautiful city was now littered by debris. She was disturbed whenever she walked across the wreck of a Mobile Suit, but she felt greater when she came across the wreck of an Astray. Somehow, she felt like its pilot could have been someone she knew, someone she just talked too, or one of those she told that they'll do just fine in battle. But more importantly, she had _someone _to look for.

"_I hope he's alright." _Cagalli thought as she virtually stomped her way through the remains of the city. She kept looking left and right, near and far. As far as other people knew, she was merely assessing the damage. But within her head, she _had_ to make sure that he was alright. However, no matter how hard she looked for him, he was nowhere to be seen.

A couple of meters away, a brown-haired man was intently staring at her. He was no stalker, but that's how he appeared. He watched Cagalli from behind a fallen wall. He combed his hair and looked neater than usual, almost entirely different from his usual self. But no matter what disguise he put on, he was still the same no matter what he did. His purple eyes clearly identify him as Kira Yamato.

The older Kira Yamato could only watch as his distraught sister walked aimlessly around the ruins. He wanted to be with her and comfort her right now, but impulses must be suppressed. He has done enough by intervening at Alaska. He has no idea what his actions could bring, but he was sure that there were consequences. Ever since he came, he has coped well with stopping his impulsiveness, quite a feat even for the Ultimate Coordinator.

Satisfied that things went on as he remembered, he returned to the cave where he hid the Strike Freedom.

- - - - - - -

Fllay watched as the three of them gathered under the two Mobile Suits. On her left was a white and blue Mobile Suit, similar to what she saw with the future Kira. The one on the right was mostly red. Between the two were the three people she saw. On the red Mobile Suit's side was a pilot of ZAFT. Blue haired, green-eyed. He seemed pretty serious, yet at the same time relaxed. The one in the middle wore a uniform from ORB. Her time with her father helped her recognize that only those wearing such decorated uniforms were of great importance. She stared at the person and realized that it was a girl, a blond girl. It was the same girl she saw on the Archangel's deck that was spending time with Kira. A jealousy fit was on its way to taking over, but when she saw the person near the white Mobile Suit, this quickly vanished. Seeing his happy face, his gentle eyes, they were enough to make her forget of her jealousy, and also enough to put her in a daze.

Without knowing it, she took a step forward. And then another, and then another, and then another. Once she realized what she was doing, she was near enough to gaze into his clear purple eyes that seemed to have preserved its innocence despite the bearer's bloody path.

"Kira…" she muttered, keeping his eyes locked on to his.

Everyone grew silent. There was a tense atmosphere about. The seagulls and the crashing waves were all that could be heard. An uncomfortable couple of seconds followed, until the sound of a helmet falling into the ground broke the silence.

"Fllay…" Kira dropped his helmet into the ground. He slowly walked towards her bearing a serious face. He knew she used her, yet all he could do was look at her seriously. He couldn't even put on a glare. But as he approached her, he could tell that there was something different about her. She was more composed, more subtle, more feminine, and she had a nicer feeling to her. Her eyes were downcast and tears were rolling down her cheeks. She nervously clenched her fists and crumpled the area of her wet skirt that was directly in front of her hands. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to do, she didn't even think that she was worthy of being in front of him like this.

"I-I'm sorry, Kira. I know you're aware of what I did." She spoke, trying her best to hold back the sobs. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "In some way, I knew that you were planning on ending our relationship when we left ORB. I have no excuse. I can only apologize for what I did."

Kira didn't speak. He just kept his gaze on her.

"Kira…" she continued, this time, her sobs becoming apparent. "…If it's possible, I want to start over again. This time, I want to do things properly with you."

He still didn't speak. This added to Fllay's pain.

"I guess you're really disgusted at me now." A defeated smile appeared on her face. She turned around and began to walk away. She hoped that he would say something, even hateful things, she just wanted to hear his voice, but none came. She held on to her chest which felt like it was going to burst. She couldn't take it anymore. She no longer cared if people were watching, she began crying as she walked away. But then, something unexpected happened. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist, a strong chest pressing against her back, and a familiar warmth envelope her. She didn't know what his expression was, she didn't know if he was crying or not. She was sure of one thing though. It was definitely him. For once, she forgot about everything. For once, she was truly happy.

"Why would I be disgusted?" he said as his grip tightened around her.

"Kira…" she smiled, tears continuing to flow. "You make me feel so pure, like you're some kind of cure."

- - - - - - -

**A/N: **Well, I guess this chapter largely lacked the conversation present in the other chapters, but I kinda think I did better on this. It's somewhat mellow dramatic, but I guess that's just my mood. I'm Azure, half of the author , and I still have a date with my other half, Rouge. She's my inspiration for this chapter. I guess I'm letting Kira accomplish what I couldn't: change the past. That's it for now.


	9. Chapter 9

The Archangel and rest of ORB's forces have moved to Morgenroete. Though they have successfully held back the invasion of the Earth Alliance Forces, but most of them knew that it was only a matter of time. Now, the Archangel and ORB's own Kusanagi were undergoing preparations for a flight into space. Everyone had their part in the preparations. The bridge crew was readjusting the system for the additional equipment, the maintenance crew is busy with storing up parts and parking the Mobile Suits, the pilots are assisting the maintenance crew, and even the kitchen crew was busy stocking up supplies for the journey ahead. Fllay, on the other hand, was left with kitchen duty. Her job was simple: get the pre-cooked food from the storage rack and place it on the counter once someone wants to eat. Nearly an hour has passed since she started her shift, but the food was already running out of stock.

"I guess all that work's making them hungry." she sighed, taking a seat behind the counter. She was finally able to rest, after an almost non-stop flow of people. She took her sweater that was with her and decided to cover her head with it, to block out the bright lights. She then took a nap right there at that instant.

Moments later, someone came in looking for something to eat.

"Excuse me, I'd like to eat something..."

There was no response. The person who came in looked around and saw someone sleeping on a counter with a sweater covering the head. He tried moving closer so that his voice could be more easily heard.

"Excuse me." he said in a louder tone. There wasn't any response either. From his position, he couldn't see who it was, if it was a male or a female, or the person's rank. Not giving up on eating during his short break, he went on to give it one last try.

"I'D LIKE TO EAT SOMETHING PLEASE!"

Though rather loud, it only had the effect of a gentle awakening to Fllay. She slowly raised her head, which in turn dropped the sweater to her back. Her red hair became vividly visible to the person on the other side of the counter, and this made him flinch.

"F-Fllay?" the boy's glasses fell a millimeter or two. Fllay, in contrast, blinked slowly and gazed intently, typical from a person who just woke up. However, her eyes shot open when she realized who it was that was standing before her.

"Sai?"

- - - - - - -

The Kira from the future was almost done with collecting his supplies. Though he still was clueless about how he'd be able to go to space, he knew he had to prepare nonetheless. He was able to procure some materials to secure the supplies in place. By this time, he realized that it was getting really awkward: he looked more like some sort of delivery guy than a pilot from the future. He left the Strike Freedom and wandered off into the city once again, gathering the last of his supplies.

"_Whenever I do this, I feel like I'm the last person on Earth." _Kira mused as he was the only person present in the city.

- - - - - - -

Back in the Archangel, the awkward silence was hard to break. Neither of them wanted to speak first. But Sai wouldn't want to pass up this opportunity. Though it's been a while since Fllay rejoined them, he hasn't talked to her ever since. And the last time he remembered talking to her was about the time when both Kira and Tolle were declared MIA. He could so clearly remember it like it was just yesterday.

_FLASHBACK_

_Sai stepped outside to confront Fllay. After all, she did say that she had something to tell him._

"_What do you want?" he directly asked her. He knew it was a chance to get together with her once again, but with two of his friends missing, he just couldn't bear with himself to do it._

"_What? Well... I..." she stuttered. _

"_Tolle is missing, Kira is missing. Everybody is pretty upset..." he paused, thinking if he should continue. She probably thought that he'd grab this opportunity, but that's where she was wrong. "...and that includes me."_

_Fllay looked at him with great shock. Not only wasn't he taking this chance, he also showed her that the bond between him and the two missing pilots was greater than theirs. However, he was unable to see this since he was trying his best not to look at her._

"_To be honest, I'm really not in condition to comfort you... not right now." he said, deciding that it would be better if he just ended this conversation and left. "Sorry. Go ask someone else."_

"_Sai... Wait!" she pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears. Sai kept walking. As he passed her, a fit of desperation overcame her and she uttered words that made the situation worse. "Because I still have feelings for you!"_

"_FLLAY!" he lashed out at her. Rather than be happy, he was angry. It was clear to him that she was simply using Kira, and that somewhere along the way, she developed feelings for him. And right now, she was bouncing back towards him just because Kira is possibly dead._

"_All along! You must have known! Kira wasn't the one I really wanted!"_

_And that was it. Those words made Sai snap in a way no one has ever seen him do so before. Not only was he playing them for fools, but she just confirmed what he thought. It was like a personal confession to a crime._

"_FLLAY! THAT'S ENOUGH!" he shouted at her. "You DID have feelings for Kira!"_

"_You're wrong!"_

"_I'M NOT!" though Sai was already shouting moments ago, his voice trembled more, filled with anger. "You might have felt differently at the beginning, but he was a good person. And that's why... That's way he was."_

"_You're wrong! You're wrong! You're wrong!" she kept repeating. Sai was able to regain control over himself as sorrow took over where anger left. No matter what she said, he could tell that she was in denial over Kira's fate. _

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"Fllay..." Sai muttered, grabbing the food that she put on the counter for him. He turned around and headed to the table, but not before continuing his words. "Why did you come back? I know how much you didn't like war."

"I-I know." it was all that she could muster. However, the possibility of a closure with Sai would help her move along in her life. Or perhaps it was one of those things that needed to be faced before she could take the next step forward. With that thought, she resumed talking. "But when I was separated from you guys in JOSH-A, I've began to see things differently."

"What do you mean?"

"I've walked among soldiers whose entire families have been killed because of the war. I've seen those that were giving their final farewell to their comrades, in hopes that they would pass it on to their families. I realized that I wasn't the only one that's living in this world, and I'm not the only one that suffered a loss. Some of them have suffered far greater than I. And when I left JOSH-A, I've learned a valuable lesson from some people. And it was during those times that I learned how hard it is to live in a war-torn world." Though she had a rather sorrowful look on her face as she recalled her experiences, a small smile crept on to her lips as she came to her more _pleasurable_ experiences. "And I guess I finally came to terms with myself, and my feelings."

"I see." he said, looking quite disappointed. He knew that if Fllay seriously had to choose between him and Kira, all selfishness aside, she'd pick Kira not because he was a coordinator but because of his personality. He saved the entire ship when all he needed was to save a few, he was so kind that it gets him in trouble with the Vice Captain, and above all, he genuinely cares for her.

"You were right, Sai. I really did have feelings for Kira. It's just as you said." though she sounded a bit cheerful, her eyes remained downcast. "But right now, I don't know what I should do. I've become more aware of people's feelings, and if I choose either of you, the other will definitely get hurt."

"I won't deny it. I'll definitely get hurt. After all, even if our relationship was something established by our families, I really loved you. But if you really want to be with Kira, that's fine with me." Sai was about to place his meal on the table, but hesitated. "They say that if you really love someone, you have to learn to let them go. And I'll do just that. Excuse me."

Instead, he carried it off to his room, trying his best to maintain his composure though anyone could tell that Sai was crying.

- - - - - - -

**A/N:** Well, that's it for now. Next chapter will focus more on the battle and the older Kira's dilemma of getting into space. I guess I'll also end next chapter with the Kusanagi's launch, and personally, I'm planning on doing something _evil._

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom


End file.
